Addis Ababa — France called on Thursday for the speedy deployment of the 19,000 strong AU-UN joint forces in the troubled region-Darfur.

The call was made here by visiting French Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Kouchner who arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday to confer on the matter and other issues with African Union (AU) Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare.

"We have to speed up the process to deploy the agreed peacekeeping force to Darfur.The process is not going enough as it should be," Kouchner told a press conference at the French Embassy in Addis Ababa.

The AU and the UN last month agreed to deploy around 19,000 peacekeeping forces to Darfur, replacing the current 7,000 AU mission there.

France pushed hard for the UN Security Council to quickly authorize thousands of troops and police for Darfur and told Khartoum to act fast on the crisis or face more sanctions.

At a joint press conference with his British Prime Minister Gordon Brown last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he would dispatch his foreign minister to UN headquarters in New York to pressure the council's disputing members into reaching an agreement fast.

The UN council then approved a five-page draft resolution sponsored by France, Britain and Ghana that Sudan and several council members say contains too many references to humanitarian and other issues, including a threat of "further measures" if any of the parties "fail to fulfill their commitments or cooperate fully".

Without the resolution, which authorized a joint African Union and United Nations force, UN member states would not have committed personnel to Sudan's violent Darfur region.

Bernard kouchner said France was concerned about current situations in Darfur and that it was anxiously waiting to see the men on ground immediately.

The Minister indicated that his country was doing its level best to support thousands of Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan and neighboring Chad, where his country has a big military presence.

Earlier on Thursdsay, the French Minister met and held discussions with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on a number of issues, ranging from Darfur, bilateral relations, Somalia and the border stalemate with Eritrea.

He said he put it to Meles that military solution was not the right solution for the border conflict with Eritrea.

Both countries has expressed keeness to furhter enhance the already strong bilateral relations With Regard to the current situation in Somalia,Koushner indicated that all parties in Somalia, including the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) should play roles to bring peace in that cheaotic nation.

"All parties who were and are part of the problem and affected by the problem should participate at the ongoing reconciliation. All parties should stop bumping the people and talk eachother,"he added.

During the Minister's visit to the AU Headquarters on Friday, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Alpha Oumar Konaré, praised the efforts of the international community in general and France in particular, for putting the issue of Darfur at the centre of their agenda.

Konaré recalled the pressing need for all AU partners to contribute financially to the reinforcement of the AMIS military troops present on the field in Darfur, and urged AU Member States to send soldiers so as to enable the hybrid force to fully play its role.